Music choices for T.H.E. Show Newport Beach 2013

Each time I head out to a US hi-fi show I fly into LAX a week or so early, grab a rental car and go driving. I want to see more than the hosting hotel(s) and their exhibitors. I love the USA. I love Americans – I really dig their unflagging optimism. (And anyone that claims Americans don’t get irony should go check out Jerry Seinfeld, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Louis CK and Doug Stanhope…and then get back to me.)

At the core of my driving music experience is my iPhone. Each morning I drop into a McDonalds or Starbucks, grab a ‘coffee’ and tap into their free wifi to download a handful of albums via MOG. This is one of the reasons why I choose MOG over Spotify – its iOS app is knockout. A single click is all that’s required to grab an album – no need to first create a playlist.

Ahead of this year’s T.H.E. Newport Beach show I’ve been firing through California, Nevada and Utah. The smooth, jet-lag soothing sounds of Prefab Sprout’s Andromeda Heights drove me away from Los Angeles and into Yosemite National Park. Steely Dan’s Gaucho eased me out again. Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Pyschedelic Pill soundtracked a pleasant day in Zion National Park. FSOL’s eerie Lifeforms was totally appropriate for the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The volume went up to eleven on Matthew Sweet’s Altered Beast when tearing up Yolo County. Sacramento’s The Beat Records offers one of the finest second-hand vinyl collections I’ve seen anywhere; I grabbed a few vinyl versions of songs that feature in the playlist below – ready for that Newport Beach show.

I saved an old road-trip favourite for the big open spaces. Thin White Rope stand as one of Davis, CA’s finest musical exports and one of my favourite bands of all time. In the late 80s and early 90s, they made murderous desert rock that howled along a razor’s edge that split the sounds of Television and Crazy Horse. For this trip, Moonhead cut the sea level depths of Death Valley and In A Spanish Cave ran me along the I-80, across the width of central Nevada. To quote TWR: “Interpretation by the music and not by me”.

Thin White rope dissolved in 1992 amid a familiar cloud of critical acclaim coupled with commercial indifference. Lead singer Guy Kyser took a sharp left career turn and became a botanist.

Incidentally, Davis is a charming Californian college town – and the owner of Armadillo Records is a super-friendly fellow.

During this road trip, I’ve been thinking about what music I’ll take to Newport Beach. In my car, I am answerable to only myself. I make selfish music choices and have a blast. At a hi-fi show there are others attendees to consider; Thin White Rope is (obviously) a no go.

Last year, I gave the Newport Beach show’s overall musical flavour a bit of a hard time. To cap it off, one exhibitor yanked my Portishead LP from the turntable after one verse and my (second choice) Bob Dylan fared little better. He was concerned that my selections would drive people from his room. He was thinking about his broader audience and I probably wasn’t.

Anyone can slap together a collection of tunes and call it their hi-fi demo playlist. The real skill in compiling such a list is thinking about your audience. After all, you think about your audience when putting together a playlist for a house party. You think about your audience when DJing; here the key skill is to strike a balance between a) what your audience wants to hear and b) what you want to play them. Pushing too heavily on the latter pedal doesn’t ‘educate’ – it alienates. You need to draw people closer with familiar sounds and then hit them with something different.

This could just as easily apply to hi-fi show music playlists. You aren’t the only person in the room – other attendees have to listen to your choices. I want to take tunes to Newport Beach that I like but tunes that won’t upset exhibitors and drive people from their room. I need a playlist that won’t alienate the Barber-Krall set and/or jazz fans – sorry about Ministry, y’all…

So, are you back in the land of Range Rovers, Swarovski crystals, and Ugg boots yet? I’m at THE Show all 3 days (maybe) so let’s catch that beer sometime when you aren’t ninja DJ’ing the soft Jazz playlists.

Just got back from the first day of “The Show” My first show and probably my last. I hear what you are talking about the baby boomer playlist; I hear another Dianna Krall I’m gonna be sick. After two hours I wanted to leave because the music was sooo bad. It was the same stuff in every room which was soft jazz and adult pop picked to make their gear stand out. The result of that was my distrust of their tast and the gear was set up in cramped rooms and most of them sounded the same: detailed-dry and boring. The Harbeth and Silverline rooms sounded good.Highlight, was the budget Pioneer room because everyone was relaxed and having fun and the speakers made the others seem overpriced. oh yeah, and the Audience fullrange driver were good to.

Yep. My experience too. I was at the Montreal show and I think the same people showed up.

I do remember really liking the Elac speakers though. But the music! to each his own I guess, but it’s like they all listen to the same 10 records…and they all suck (totally subjective I know). Extend your range why don’t you. Take some chances.

John, I admire your courage trying to play Ministry. Please let us know how many seconds you were able to hear before…oh well whatever.

Great post! I keep meaning to pick up a copy of FSOL’s Lifeforms on vinyl, it’s a classic. Speaking of which, I’m sure you’ve got it but just in case you don’t (or don’t have it on vinyl) The Orb. Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld. That album is to The Orb what Lifeforms is to FSOL, though a strong case can be made for Orbus Terrarum as well.

I’m glad to see FSOL has been outputting so much lately after they went quiet after Dead Cities and then went all…Woodstocky.